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Product details

There are two versions of this work: 1. for medium voice and
piano 2. for medium voice and instrumental ensemble. Written for
a concert of new works sponsored by the ISCM, held in Brisbane in
1975, Askesisis a
setting of words by the distinguished German writer Gunter Grass;
the first stanza excerpted from that poem follows.

The cat speaks. And what does the cat say? Thou shalt draw
with sharpened pencil brides of shade and shade of snow, thou
shalt love the colour grey and be beneath a cloudy sky. The cat
speaks. And what does the cat say? Thou shalt be clad in the
evening paper, clad in sackcloth like potatoes, and thou shalt
turn this suit year out year in, and in a new suit never
be...

Pages: 1 set of performance parts

Difficulty: Advanced

Duration: 3 min.

Contents note:

Two versions of Askesis.

Commission info: Commissioned by the International Society of Contemporary Music (Qld) for a concert of new works, 27.9.75.

"Askesis" is a poem from Penguin Modern European Poets series POEMS OF GUNTER GRASS, translated from the German by Christopher Middleton. Translations of selected poems first published in England by Martin Secker & Warburg Limited, 1966. English translation copyright 1966 by Martin Secker & Warburg Limited. The composer sought permission from both Gunter Grass and Martin Secker & Warburg to set 'Askesis' in the versions described above and holds correspondence in which permission was granted.